Between a Rogue and a Hard Place
by Mini Wolfsbane
Summary: Rogue and Molly get trapped in a cave in, on a mission in the Colorado rockies. It gives them a chance to re-connect and get to know each other better, except clashing and disagreeing beforehand is inevitable. 63rd story in a series. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men:Evolution or it's characters. Just my OC, Molly Callum/Creature and any original characters/background characters that may pop up from time to time.

AN: I'M NOT DEAD! Just...life got in the way. Like usual. I'd been planning on posting this and the fic after it for several days, but I've been in a crap mood the past few months, feeling sad and other things I won't get into here. I'll get over it, always do. Anyway, this fic fills in a much needed space and answers the 'why' as to Rogue and Molly never connected throughout the series. (the main reason in actuality being that Rogue is a lot of people's favorite character in Evo, so I'm sure many OCs have her as a best friend. I wanted to avoid/subvert that by having Molly connect with Kitty and Kurt.) However, in the fics reality, it's hard to see why they wouldn't be; Both quiet, private people that don't always open up easily. So, before the series reached it's conclusion, I wanted to touch on it and nudge the two in the friendlier direction. They'll never be the whole "OMG, let's do the mall and talk about boys and eat cheesecake!" friends like Molly and Kitty so obviously are, but they'll be more like "Let's grab coffee and read books, enjoying each others company in the quiet." type of friends. Lastly, I like the idea of swiveling chairs in the X-jets, even if they didn't work that in the show, presumably. So sue me. (Please don't!) Edit: Yes, I'm aware this is possibly the corniest, punniest fan fic title in existence and possibly my whole series. That's what happens when you edit at five am after waking up at two. I'm so sorry. Without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

Molly woke up to her alarm. It was bright and early Friday morning, near the end of August. Molly was excited for the New Orleans trip the month following, but had other things on her mind at the present time. Molly flew through her routine of shower, dressed, then breakfast. Then...waited for the phone to ring. She'd landed her first job interview and was hoping they'd call back since it went sucessfully. Good references, including a glowing one from the Professor, and she hadn't stuttered at all even though she'd been incredibly gut wrenching-ly nervous.

However, even with no interview experience, she knew a good interview didn't guarantee landing the job. And it wasn't much anyway. A go-getter thing at some hoity-toity high end computer graphics company in Bayville. Answering phones and such, but it was something to get her foot in the door. Maybe if she worked her way from the ground up, she could actually get a job that her classes and diploma were useful for.

Anyway, she watched her phone for what felt like hours in the kitchen.

Then in the rec room.

Then in the foyer.

Which was where Remy, Kurt and Kitty found her.

"We're going out to the mall to catch a movie. Want to come?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, sure. It's been hours. No one's probably going to call anyway," Molly said. As if on cue, her phone rang, "Hello?-No, I'm not interested, thanks," Molly hung up, "Ugh, telemarketers!"

They went and caught a long, three hour epic movies. Molly practically had eye strain when it was over with. However, the day wasn't over with yet.  
As soon as they arrived back home, duty called. Or, more specifically, the professor called them and the rest of the team to his office because there was a mission afoot.

"There's a situation in the Colorado mountains," He explained from behind his desk, "Two children of an old colleague of mine have gone missing. He thought we could do a better job combing the area with our equipment then the volunteer search and rescue. And the police. Here's the information you'll need. Suit up and leave as soon as you can." He handed Scott a folder.

Molly high tailed it and was in the Blackbird in ten minutes flat. Rogue was already there, her usual straight-faced, pale self.  
"Fancy meeting you here," Molly joked with a smile before sitting down.

"I don't see how you can make jokes at a time like this. Those kids could be dead already for all we know," Rogue snipped.  
Molly was a little taken aback. Rogue wasn't usually so callous with her.

"Sorry. Jeez, just trying to lighten the mood," Molly swiveled her chair in Rogue's direction, while Rogue was slumped into her seat.  
Molly crossed her arms, feeling hurt.

"You and Remy both, I swear," Rogue said, "Can't you ever be serious for five minutes?"

"Come on Rogue," Molly urged, "I know it's a bad situation, but if you can't laugh once in a while, you go nuts."

"Rogue doesn't know how to laugh," Remy entered the jet, "They took out that organ and replaced it with one that makes you sullen and moody all the time."

"Get bent, Cajun," Rogue glared.

"Ow," Remy pantomimed a knife going into his chest, "That one actually hurt. Why you wound me so, Roguey?"

Rogue muttered something unintelligible as the rest of the team piled in and the jet took off. Molly looked back, wondering what was bugging Rogue to make her crankier then usual and take it out on her like that.

* * *

They arrived in record time.

"We'll search in teams of two," Cyclops announced, "Gambit and myself, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat, Rogue and Creature,  
and Marvel Girl and Colossus." Most of the team was relieved Jean had finally picked a codename like everyone else a couple months back. Molly didn't know how the tall redhead managed to go without one for years.

Molly wondered why the unconventional pairing, but it probably made better sense to Cyke in his leader mind.  
And besides, Molly and Remy did tend to distract each other at times. Bonus, Molly could ask what was wrong with Rogue.

The two girls started combing through the forests of the mountains. Molly, like normal, sniffing around as a wolf and Rogue using her eyes and ears. Both had been trained in tracking, but nothing beat a canine nose.

About a half mile away from the jet, they stopped and Molly changed back.  
"I'm not getting a human scent. Just pine trees. We should double back around."

"I'd rather keep going. They could be anywhere," Rogue said.

"Yeah, and I'm telling you it's dead air up here. If they were close, I would've gotten a hint." Molly didn't want to argue, especially since they were already at odds, but Rogue could almost be as stubborn as Molly.

They stared at each other for several moments, tense.

"Ten more minutes, then we'll go the other way," Rogue decided.

So, ten minutes later, they were going in the opposite direction. Molly could hear the rest of her friends calling out for the kids and smell Jean's perfume, Remy's shampoo and things of that nature, but still wasn't smelling anyone else.

They kept walking. After some time, Molly changed back yet again.  
"I'm still not smelling anything, Rogue. We need to walk further or ask Cyclops to do an aerial search."

"So we'll keep walking. We're in the middle of a thick forest, I'm not sure an aerial search would help." Rogue answered.

"Okay," Molly said.

They walked for the better part of an hour, not coming across a clue of human life in the area. This was getting more difficult. At least they hadn't run out of daylight yet. They kept walking, coming across a steep hill off a cliff,  
going at an angle. Molly looked to Rogue and they descended it. "Rogue to Cyclops. We're going down a cliff face to search. Over," Rogue said over her communicator watch.

"Copy that, over," Cyclops said.

It was a long way down to the bottom as Molly's paws hit hot dirt and rocks. The sun shone high above them,  
beating down. Molly had to ignore it, sweating through her tongue and panting heavily like a normal wolf, as there were more pressing matters than her comfort going on.

"Creature, you need water. Stop and take a drink," Rogue held out a canteen.

Molly changed back. "No. You said we need to keep searching, so I am."

"You can't search if you're dehydrated and passed out. Drink." Rogue said firmly.

Molly took the canteen reluctantly, drinking her fill. She went wolf again and kept walking at a fast pace.  
They kept looking for some time, taking a rest amidst a group of young trees. Molly changed back, tired.  
She had built up stamina, but the heat seemed to suck energy out of you.

"Are You holding up okay?" Molly asked.

"Yeah, are _you_?" Rogue looked skeptical, "This isn't anything compared to a summer in Mississippi. I can take it."

"Come on. I'm a Nevada girl. I'm used to the heat, but this is something else," Molly scoffed.

"We'll cover more ground down here, but I think we should go back up after a while," Rogue said.

"Agreed," Molly nodded.

The children had wandered off from their parents camping and could be anywhere in the forest, but couldn't have had the means to get very far, being tiny four year old twins. Not old enough to know better than to wander off, but also not tall enough to get very far on foot, Molly realized. The jet had landed in the vicinity of the campsite, naturally.

"Maybe we're not thinking about this the right way," Molly considered it, "They're four. They aren't going to get far in any direction because they're, like, two feet tall. I wanna do a bird view sweep real fast."

"You're right and that's fine, but remember, there're cliffs and rivers all around this place. Just because they couldn't get very far doesn't mean an accident couldn't have happened either."

Molly nodded, understanding. She turned into a small peregrine falcon. It had amazing vision, like all birds of prey,  
but wasn't bulky and could maneuver it's way over the tops of trees and through the forest. She searched about a mile, finding nothing but a couple rabbits on the ground and a hungry deer. Going back, Molly made a clumsy crash landing, but that was what she got for not morphing birds out on missions very often.

"Ouch. You break anything there?" Rogue looked quite amused.

Molly shook the dirt off her face before changing back. "None the worse for wear. I didn't find anything. Let's keep at it."

"I called out, did a short walk, but nothing either," Rogue explained as Molly shifted to bloodhound form, "Maybe you should speed it up and go ahead of me a bit. I'll be fine."

Molly nodded. She ran ahead, everything filling her new nose. Bloodhounds were a bit better for this then a wolf. Wolves we're about hunting, not finding. Bloodhounds were bred to search out. Molly felt like she'd wasted valuable time as a wolf, but it was better than nothing, and she'd tried. No sense beating herself up about it now.

A small dirt hill up ahead, she got up it. What she didn't expect to see beyond the hill was a shack and a red pick up truck in the wilderness. Not to mention jugs piled up all around the place with three x's on them.

"Oh man, I don't believe it," Rogue came up behind her, laughing a little with a hand to her face, "They're moonshiners!"

Molly changed back.  
"You mean like on old TV shows? Actual hill-billy mountain folk moonshiners? People making illegal alcohol to sell under the table?"

Rogue just nodded with a small smile.  
"Had 'em back in the south too, but they kept getting caught. This guy's smart. Out in the middle of nowhere,  
probably selling it the old-fashioned way; Word of mouth."

"We should go see if they saw anything. You know, just in case," Molly said.

They went to the door and knocked. It took a few minutes, but a tall, boisterously overweight old man with a long white mustache came to the door. "Yeah?"

"Hey," Rogue said, "We're with a search party looking for a pair of kids that got lost," She held up the picture on her phone, "Have you seen them around or anything suspicious in the past few hours?"

"No.-Hey, 'ain't you those mutants they're always talkin' about in the news?" The man said, "I know I done seen your faces before, creeps."

Before either of them could deny it (public relations was a slippery slope) or answer, the man yelled behind him.

"Cleetus! Boys! Get out here! We got mutants on the property!"

"I saw a bike with keys. We run for it," Rogue whispered to Molly.

"Rogue, no! We can talk this out." Molly whispered back.

"Sir," Molly said, "We're not here to cause any trouble. We just want to find those kids and get them back to their parents. We'll leave, no fighting."

"I don't care what you want, mutie," The man said, "We HATE mutants and two less in this world is a good thing."  
He grabbed a shotgun from inside and started loading it. Meanwhile, Cleetus and the boys came out of the woodwork from all sides of the house. A giant of a man, taller and heavier than the Blob, dressed in only jeans and boots came out from the left side of the house. From the other side, came three skinny red-headed boys in overalls and straw hats. From inside the house and out the front along with the mustached man walked two huge, muscled lunkheads with arms the size of canned hams in ripped-sleeve plaid shirts and cut off jeans.

"Okay, RUN!" Molly finally agreed.

Rogue ran for the bike and Molly scrambled on. "Hang on tight," Rogue said. Molly did, but it was awkward feeling and anything but normal. She'd never even been on the back of Remy's motorcycle, now she was forced to hold onto Rogue as they tore out of there with dust trailing behind them and that red pick up truck full of bigoted hicks on their heels. It couldn't get much worse.

Bangbangbang!

Or it could since they were FIRING AT THEM WITH A BLOODY SHOTGUN!

"Ohh crap, I'm not going to live to see twenty-two!" Molly moaned.

"You've got healing powers, what're you worried about?" Rogue yelled over the noise of the motorcycle.

"Yeah, when I'm _in_ morph! And I'm definitely sure it won't work if I'm dead!" Molly shouted.

As if on cue, a bullet sank itself next to Molly's left shoulder blade.  
"AHH! I'm hit! Those lousy-!"

"Hang on, I'll lose 'em," Rogue said.

Molly was somewhat grateful. For the first time in her life, she was ready to swear a blue streak.  
They went up the hill, veering left into the deep woods, managing to make it through the trees.  
The truck was too wide and would never be able to follow.

Unfortunately, they were going too fast.

"Uh, might want to slow down there," Molly warned.

There was a dark cave up ahead.

"Can't. Something's wrong with the brakes. Brace yourself, I'm gonna swerve it to stop, so hang on tight!" Rogue warned.

"You're gonna wha-?!" Molly yelped.

They made it into the cave and Rogue swerved the bike, digging her heels in so that it came to a stop.  
Unfortunately, Molly wasn't hanging on to her teammate tight enough. Gravity kicked in and Molly was flung into the far cave wall back first, getting knocked out with a sickening thud. As per usual.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men:Evolution or it's characters. Just my OC, Molly Callum/Creature and anyoriginal characters/background characters that may pop up from time to time.

* * *

"Molly?! Molly, you okay? Molly!" Rogue gently shook her awake.

"Owww. Maybe? That' 's not recommended," Molly verbalized.

"I told you to hang on," Rogue said, "Let me check your eyes. You took a bad hit, might have a concussion."

"I've taken plenty of hits before, no concussion. I'm fine," Molly stood up after waving Rogue away, stumbling back a few steps while holding onto her head with her left hand, "Woah. The world's spinning."

"Sit down and let me look at you," Rogue insisted.

Molly obeyed. As many times as she'd landed herself unconscious, it stood to reason a solid cave wall would cause her the most trouble.  
Rogue shined a small pen light from her backpack in Molly's eyes.

"Your pupils are dilated. It might be a slight concussion or worse. You should've held on tighter," Rogue said.

"I tried, but one, I'm a little nervous about holding onto the one person my team whose skin I can't touch and two, I've never had to hold on to another girls waist before while getting shot at," Molly said, already in a bad mood.

"Well _sorry_ I'm not Remy! Maybe if you didn't hang around him so much and were late to team building exercises, and actually spent time with other girls, you wouldn't be such a..." Rogue let it hang.

"Go on, say it," Molly dared her.

Rogue pursed her mouth together, seeming regretful she couldn't take the words back, silent.

"Say. It." Molly insisted.

"A know-it-all. You're kind of arrogant, okay? And prudish. Sometimes you don't think before you do something and you definitely don't think before you talk. You're so wrapped up in Remy and hanging out with Kurt and Kitty...you never talk to me. Never try to spend time with me," Rogue explained.

"Is that why you were mad this morning?" Molly asked, her shoulder still throbbing in pain. Okay, so she still had a bullet lodged in her,  
but sometimes emotional pain and fixing a friendship outweighed physical pain. And, well, possibly risking infection. Hooray.

"Yeah. Besides, you've been doing a lot with Kitty the past couple months, and she's my best friend too. It was just something building up over the years. You get along with everyone, but we've never really connected," Rogue said.

Molly felt awful. Okay, sure, she'd invited Rogue on that disastrous road trip, but she'd also been callous enough to actually _throw_ her guitar _out of a moving vehicle._ Rogue had a point. Molly was...admittedly...somewhat arrogant. As for being prudish, Molly had to consider that one further, but it made sense. Most girls were comfortable with their bodies and didn't mind their boyfriends saying things, but sometimes Molly put the kibosh on Remy's flirting, she herself wasn't into wearing anything she deemed too revealing. Besides that, there were a ton of other examples Molly could think of where she offered unwarranted advice or stuck her nose where it didn't belong. These were all things no one else had been honest about with her before. Not ever. Trust Rogue to call Molly out on some of her worst flaws.

"You're right and... I get it. You just always seemed okay by yourself, so I didn't bother you. I didn't think you needed me as a friend because you had everyone else. I was the new girl, so I had to work my way into the circle, but you're right. I never reached out to you to ask if you just wanted to hang out or go to the mall or whatever. And as for some of my bad personality flaws? You're...spot on," Molly groaned, head dipping as she grit her teeth. The adrenalin had worn off and the pain in her shoulder was getting even worse. "I'm a brat sometimes. Spoiled."

"We should try to get the bullet out of there before it gets infected," Rogue crawled around to face Molly's back, "Unzip your uniform, and we'll go out into the light. Those bunch of yahoos should have given up by now."

"Uh sorry? You want me to be exposed in broad daylight?" Molly said. Rogue gave her a dry look.  
"Okay, so I am prudish." Molly unzipped down to the waist, her bra exposed.

They started walking for the cave's entrance when a rumbling was heard.

"Get back! Cave in!" Rogue grabbed Molly's arm, and they ran to the back of the cave.

The light they had turned into pitch black darkness as rocks tumbled down to the floor,  
blocking the caves entrance. Fantastic. They were trapped!

* * *

"Why did that happen?" Molly wondered in the dark.

"Heck if I know," Rogue said, "It doesn't matter, unless we can make it out of here on our own."  
A flashlight from her bag was turned on. Ahead of them was a massive boulder surrounded by smaller rocks, blocking the whole entrance.

"I'm not sure if I can turn into anything that can move that boulder," Molly said.

"You shouldn't be morphing with a concussion anyway," Rogue said, "And even if I did drain off some of your powers, the cave entrance is too narrow for a big animal to fit. An elephant would be able to move that boulder, but it's too big."

"Wow, you really pay attention to things," Molly said.

"I try. We'll see if Jean's in telepathic range, but I guess all we can do now is wait. Still, gotta get that bullet out of you, though," Rogue said.

"Right," Molly said, "Have at it, Doctor Rogue."

Rogue dug into her bag once more, retrieving an expensive upgraded first aid kit. It had medical forceps for removing bullets in the event of an emergency, some other heavy-duty tools, and even the best chloroform money could buy. The Institute didn't mess around when it came to the team getting hurt, especially on risky missions like this one. The team had been trained over and over again in basic first aid and some extra things, but nothing had prepared them to remove a bullet. Molly was definitely going to bring it up at the next team meeting. Rogue sterilized the forceps and the wound, then washed her hands with antiseptic and put on some medical gloves. "This is really gonna hurt, but I'll try and be gentle." Rogue warned.

"Oh yeah. Super fun-Ahhh! Ahhh! Ohhhh ahh!" Molly got it down to some whimpering noises, digging her nails into her hands instead.

"Almost got it. It's really lodged in," Rogue said.

"Nnh," Molly whimpered. What a great afternoon this was turning out to be.

After some minutes...

"Got it," Rogue said, "Now I have to clean the wound again and bandage it up."

"This is the first time in a while I can't just morph to make myself all better," Molly observed, "And, uh, thank you. A lot."

"It comes in handy, yeah," Rogue said, "I've had to use Logan's powers more than once and the healing factor is pretty fantastic to have." Rogue finished cleaning and dressing the wound.

Molly zipped her uniform back up and turned to face Rogue in the little light given off by the flashlight. "So...tell me more about me being prudish and arrogant. And a brat," Molly smirked, "And that's not sarcasm. You're the first one to point it out. You know everyone else is too nice to lay out all my less than shining personality flaws. Even Logan. It's not every friend that will tell you what a perfect sleazy jerk you can be to your face."

"You're not completely arrogant. I said kind of. And I also said prudish." Rogue said, "It's that goody-two shoes thing you have about you most times. Like how you wouldn't talk to Remy for a week after you learned he was a thief. Can't blame you, but you didn't cut him _any_ slack after months of friendship and bonding. I thought it was petty. And how you make a big deal out of having good morals, like the rest of us don't. Like...like we're not as good and wholesome as you. The prudish thing bleeds into that. Like, not having the guts to stand up to Logan and Scott if they found out you and Remy almost did it. If they do, so what? They can't punish you for it and you guys didn't actually _do_ anything wrong. It's like you want an award for keeping your virginity. And, jeez, don't get me started on the making-out thing."

Molly's face was almost in a permanent state of frowning. Okay, maybe Rogue had been a little too honest there.  
However, Molly had gotten past crying too much, and she wasn't exactly angry, just a little hurt.  
"Okay. All good points, but you don't know my point of view either. I hadn't had much experience, you know, being around actual people. Coming to the institute was a big thing for me. I lived most of my life shut inside my house because I had to be home schooled early on, then I moved out and worked at home until my powers happened. Remy and everyone taught me a lot and got me out of my shell, but meeting all these new friends who were raised so much differently than me who had varied beliefs and things? It was like culture shock. So I guess I've always been in my own bubble without realizing how it would affect others. If I point something out, I can see how annoyed people get, but I don't learn. So, yeah, I'm a bit self-absorbed. And as for morals? I guess I do bring it overboard, but it's just me. I never thought I was better than you or anyone else, but I guess it's how I always came off. And as for the whole virginity thing? Yeah, probably too big a deal there too. You're right, I shouldn't be scared of Scott and Logan, but I am. And I don't expect an award, but... I don't know. I just want to keep myself safe. Before Remy, I didn't worry about it a lot, but he's an amazing guy and I just don't want to slip up. I could, it would be so easy, but I want to give myself to him the right way. I already decided, someday it's going to be him and only him.-And I know we make-out too much."

Silence.

"Okay. Got it. All that said, stop caring so much about what other people think. It's not good for you. I see you second guess yourself all the time and it kills me. Most times, You've got no self-confidence, no backbone. There isn't much you can do without thinking if it was right or wrong. Sometimes you just have to say screw it and throw caution to the wind," Rogue said, "I was sad we weren't close, but I was sadder you weren't letting yourself take more control of your own life. You've gotten better, I'll admit, but sometimes you're still pretty skittish. Like, who tells their boyfriend they love them when they're hanging off the edge of a plane? Again, second guessing and not making time for what's important."

"And lately?" Molly said quietly, drawing circles in the dirt, feeling less than great at this point. It wasn't fun having all your worst personality flaws pointed out (even if she'd asked), and hearing you had no self-confidence, even if you knew it all along.

"Freaking out about your family visiting when everything went fine in the end, last week when you couldn't spit it out to Scott that you didn't want to help with morning Danger Room sessions and you did it anyway, and a few days ago when you were exhausted and let us drag you to the mall. It was written all over your face, but you didn't have it in you to say no," Rogue said.

"Okay. So...what do I do about it?" Molly asked.

"Stop freaking out over little things and second guessing. Go with your gut. Learn to say no when it's appropriate. And, above all, stop being such a push over," Rogue instructed.

"Alright. Little by little, I can do better," Molly nodded.

"I'll help you, but only if you let me," Rogue said.

"Yeah. I'd like that. Thanks" Molly said. There was a long pause, "So, you think we're ever gonna get out of here? Did you try contacting Jean yet?"

"No. We did get sidetracked. Hang on..." Rogue said, "I'm not getting anything. She must be too far away."

"We still have our comm watches," Molly said. She turned hers on, "Hello? Anybody?" But there was just static in return.

"Great. Not only do they have to find the kids, they have to find us now too," Rogue grumped.

"Hopefully they'll find the kids first and not waste time. We can maintain. We've got rations for three days and water," Molly said.

"I'm sure they will. The missions more important. Hopefully Remy and Piotr will keep that in mind. Especially Remy," Rogue said.

"What do you mean 'especially Remy?'-Just kidding!" Molly smiled.

"Very funny. How's your head? I'm glad your staying awake. There's no telling how bad your concussion is," Rogue said.

"Head still hurts. Back hurts too," Molly stretched her arms over her head, "To say nothing of this lovely bullet wound."

"We should keep talking to keep you up and alert. Everyone knows how much you like to sleep." Rogue said.

"Hilarious, but I know you're serious. It'll probably be getting dark in a few hours anyway, so yeah. Up and at 'em, so to speak," Molly said.

So they kept talking into the long hours of the night, until Molly was past the crisis point. They unfurled their special micro-fiber blankets and got comfortable. Morning was a long way off.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men:Evolution or it's characters. Just my OC, Molly Callum/Creature and any original characters/background characters that may pop up from time to time.

* * *

Molly blinked. It felt like morning, but it was almost impossible to tell in the pitch black of the cave. Molly looked at her communicator watch, which, of course, had the time on it. 7:24 AM. Definitely morning. Molly yawned and stretched, getting the kinks out. Sleeping on a cold cave floor wasn't comfortable at all, even with a small pillow in the mission backpack kit. Molly turned on her flashlight for some light so Rogue and her wouldn't have to talk in the dark later. She dug around in her bag and had a few rations, then decided it was time to-

"Oww!" Molly's head throbbing again. Unusually bad. Did she still have a concussion?

"Huh? What's the matter?" Rogue woke up, looking groggy in the low light.

"Migraine out of nowhere. I thought I was past all that last night," Molly held her head, feeling the splitting headache.

"Let's look at your eyes again," Rogue said, getting out the pen light and shining it in Molly's eyes, "Your pupils aren't dilated.  
It's probably just after effects. You took a bad hit yesterday. Lay down and get comfortable."

"But I was gonna try and get us out of-"

"Lay down," Rogue repeated, "Doctors orders. They'll find us, you know they will."

Molly lay down on the cold, unforgiving cave floor, covering herself with the blanket. "Okay. So what's our topic of conversation this morning since there's nothing to do but talk?"

Sometime later, they found themselves laughing, comparing notes on boyfriends and recounting the stupid stuff Remy did that the other didn't know about. (Rogue had some equally good dirt on him, as did Molly.)

"I love him, but sometimes he's just a dork," Molly smiled, "So, uh, I know I shouldn't ask but...did our resident huge, intimidating Russian ever, you know...say it?"

"Say what?" Rogue blushed, as if she didn't know what Molly meant.

"You know. 'I love you'? And did you say it back?" Molly smirked.

"Yes he did, and I did, so there!" Rogue said quickly.

"So, the relationship has gone to the next level." Molly smirked, "Next thing you know, marriage and...whatever."

"Whatever?" Rogue questioned.

"Well... I don't know...with your powers...not sure it'd be possible to ever have kids the, uh, the natural way.  
I-I mean, carrying them. The whole other thing? That's another can of worms," Molly blushed.  
"No, I get it. We've kind of figured out a way around my powers for now. He can touch me when he's armored up without getting hurt," Rogue smiled bigger than Molly had ever seen her smile, "So until I get my powers under control one day, it's a possibility. The professor thinks it's a mental thing so-" Rogue was interrupted by Molly suddenly getting up and giving her a crushing hug.

"Oh man, why didn't you tell me sooner?! Did you tell anybody?! That's great, Rogue. Really amazing. I'm so happy for you.  
You...you can touch him!" Molly said.

"A few people know and now you. Thanks, Molly," Rogue smiled, "I guess it does feel pretty good."

"So...you two make-out like that? I mean, probably can't do the tongue thing...or can you?-Sorry. Too far?" Molly said.

"Molly, we just talked about which jeans show off our boyfriend's butts best. I think we already crossed that line.  
We make-out, but not as much as you two. And we haven't gotten to the tongue stage yet, unlike you."

"It was _one time_, and we haven't done it again!" Molly screeched, "Not that I don't want to, but I, personally,  
would rather wait a bit."

"Anyway, the Professor thinks my powers are just mentally blocked, so I'll control them one day when I overcome it.  
He's been practicing with me, but I'm still going to need years before I can really control them. I might be able to turn them on and off when I want to, but it's going to take a long time," Rogue explained.

"I see. Well, if I can go from a stutter-y shut-in to this." Molly pointed to herself, "You can control your powers one day. Almost anything is possible."

"Almost anything?" Rogue said.

"Yeah. Remy controlling his flirting, avoiding death, taxes. You know, the immutable little things that make up life," Molly smiled.

* * *

AN: I feel a little bad for making Rogue/Piotr a staple here. I'm sorry not sorry? I know I get a little annoyed or put out when there's Kurt/Kitty in fics because I see them as much more friends and not lovers, but, like I said before, I just want Rogue to be happy. I don't bring it up too much, probably for this very reason, but you can ignore it if you want. Admittedly, it'd be weird in cannon and unexpected, but I think it works for my AU for more reasons than I can list here.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men:Evolution or it's characters. Just my OC, Molly Callum/Creature and any original characters/background characters that may pop up from time to time.

* * *

The girls talked, napped, stayed quiet and talked some more. It was not a very eventful bunch of hours.

"Hey Rogue?"

"You ready to bite the bullet on the off chance the rest of the cave comes crashing down on us?"

"No, not really."

"Me neither."

Silence.

After several more hours, Molly's watch read exactly 4 PM. "So, when's the last time you-"

"Shh!"

Molly listened. She could hear shouting.  
"It might be them! WE'RE IN HERE!"

They ran over to the blocked entrance and called out at the top of their lungs for several minutes. The two of them backed up several yards when they heard Remy call out "Fire in the hole!" and the large boulder in front of them was decimated to nothing but bits of rubble. The soft afternoon sunlight bled through into the cave with Remy and an armored up Piotr at the entrance making them both look rather mythical and beautiful with the ethereal soft glow of light shining behind them. Oh yeah, Michelle, Jamie, X-23 and the rest of the X-Men were there behind them too.

Molly tackled Remy in a hug, but to the surprise of everyone, after Piotr lifted up Rogue and spun her around like a fairy tale princess,  
Rogue kissed him full on the mouth with everyone watching.

"I missed you," Rogue smiled.

"Woah," Remy said, "Two days in a cave did her some good."

"Yeah," Molly said, "Did you find the kids? Are they okay?"

"We found them yesterday and spent the rest of the time looking for you two, our lost lovebirds." Remy tipped up Molly's chin, "They're fine, back with their parents, but you look terrible."

"Uh, yeah. I have a concussion. I got a bullet in the back. You know, a typical Tuesday for us," Molly said. Remy, being Remy, swept her up into his arms in a bridal hold and gave her a short-but passionate-kiss.

"A bullet? Then you shouldn't be on your feet. And we were all worried sick, by the way, but no one more so then your two perfect, loving boyfriends." Remy smiled, carrying Molly away from the cave while Rogue and Piotr fell in step beside them while the X-Men led the way back to the jet.

"You're _not_ carrying me all the way back to the jet!" Molly protested, squirming.

"I am too, Petite. Quit squirming," Remy grinned, tightening his grip on his smaller girlfriend.

"Let her down, Remy. She's injured, not broken," Rogue said.

Remy stared at Rogue.  
"Sorry? Did I miss something? You've never said that before."

"Well I'm saying it now. Put Molly down, she can walk," Rogue advocated for Molly's 'freedom'.

"Yes ma'am," Remy said, gently letting Molly go.

"Thanks," Molly said.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men:Evolution or it's characters. Just my OC, Molly Callum/Creature and any original characters/background characters that may pop up from time to time.

* * *

Back in the jet, they explained what had happened, why Molly didn't just morph herself better, and how they survived two days in a cave by themselves. Soon enough, they were back home. After a routine check up and a bandage change, Molly gratefully got a hot shower and changed out of her uniform into comfortable pajamas, intent on staying in them for the rest of the afternoon and on into the night.

However, the adventure proved not to be over yet.

Molly walked to her room after some time in front of the TV with Remy, but noticed things were quiet. Too quiet. Kitty wasn't blasting her music while studying for college. Rahne and her friends weren't giggling from a nearby room. No one else was in the halls at this time in the evening after dinner, which was highly suspect with eighty students always coming and going.

Molly stopped walking. She pinched the back of her hand, then hard pat her cheek, making sure she was awake and not still in the cave and dreaming. No, definitely still awake. She decided to check on Rogue and Kitty's room, since they were the closest.

"Kitty?!" Molly rushed over to her friend, who was laying unconscious on the floor, face down. Molly turned her over. There were no signs of struggle, and no signs of any foul play going on like an electric bomb on her forehead. (Molly knew all about X-23's old exploits.)  
Was everyone else knocked out like this?

Molly went to the next room, which was Jubilee and Amara's. The two girls were also out cold.  
What-or who-could be the cause of this?

"Molly? Good you're okay," Rogue opened the door, rushing in.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Are we the only ones awake? Why is everyone else knocked out like this?" Molly asked.

"I don't know," Rogue admitted, "Maybe they picked up something weird in the forest that we didn't. Or we're just under attack."

"Yeah, okay. Or it could be an illusion or something. I mean, how do I know you're really you?" Molly questioned.

"...You think dark blue jeans make Remy's butt look like an oil painting," Rogue said, referring to their earlier undignified conversation. "Your turn."

"You kissed Piotr today in front of everyone," Molly said.

"Now that we've got that sorted, we should get someplace safe. If we're the only ones awake, we need to be prepared for attack," Rogue said.

"The safest place is the danger room, but that is all the way downstairs," Molly said, "Maybe we should just, you know, look around for them. Get the jump on them before the reverse happens."

"If we can," Rogue doubted darkly.

"I'll try and smell them," Molly shifted into a German shepherd. It felt pointless, but it was the only course of action.  
If someone could sneak into the mansion undetected and take out everyone but them, they were definitely a force to be reckoned with. Molly's dog nose smelled the air and a million scents hit her. Big things, like human scent, and small things like food crumbs and perfumes. She didn't have to sniff for long until she picked up the intruders scent. It stuck out, being unfamiliar. Some people smelled sweet or sour or something different, but this male person was something else. He was full of confidence, electric with it. Like he was fearless.

Worst of all though, he was in the Professor's office.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men:Evolution or it's characters. Just my OC, Molly Callum/Creature and any original characters/background characters that may pop up from time to time.

* * *

Molly ran for it at breakneck speed, with Rogue following after her as much as she could manage. Molly pushed the ajar door open with her nose, jumping on a tall, black clad male with long, black hair and a silver metal arm with a red star on his shoulder. The two went sprawling onto the carpet. Molly put her jaws around his neck, hoping that would keep him down, but it didn't work. She didn't account for the metal arm as it launched a fist into her side, and she went flying across the room. Okay, that knocked the wind out of her...and broke a few bones. She watched as the man launched himself back up in a jump back onto his feet effortlessly. He had been seconds away from knocking out the professor before.

"What do you want?" Rogue asked, staying vigil at the Professor's side.

"Hydra wants this school eliminated. Everything you stand for stands in our way for our quest in world domination," The man said, "This was supposed to be a test. If you can't fight against one man and win, you're going to lose." With that, he flung himself out the window in a spray of glass shards outwards.

"Are you okay, Professor?" Rogue asked. Molly made her way to changing back. Even with a healing factor, the metal punch made her side feel incredibly sore. Oh well, she wasn't invincible.

"I'm fine, Rogue. Thank you both for coming to my rescue," The Professor reassured her, "Let's make sure everyone else is alright." He wheeled his way out of the room as the girls followed.

"Uh-huh," Molly, "Great. So what's Hydra, who was that, and I think I need like ten aspirin."

"We'll talk in the planning room momentarily, Molly. Don't worry," Xavier said.

After making sure the student body was revived and safe, the main team met in the planning room.

Several blue holographic screens were up, showing an octopus symbol, the man from before, some additional information and a picture of Captain America.

"Hydra is another organization bent on world domination. They've been in operation since the fourties." Xavier explained, "The man who broke into our home earlier was formerly James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes. Captain America's best friend. Now he has been brainwashed by Hydra and is known only as the Winter Soldier, enhanced by similar science as the program that gave the Captain his abilities. So far attempts to get through to him have been unsuccessful. Shield and the Avengers have been after he and Hydra, but it seems their problem is now our problem as well."

"Okay, crystal clear," Rogue said, "Why's Hydra after us now? Why not sooner?"

"Why's anyone ever after us?" Kurt yawned, still tired, "Everyone kind of hates us."

"They probably see us as a threat since the school got bigger and the younger kids graduated," Kitty said, "The why isn't important anyway. We're going to have to be on our guard again."

"Nothing new that someone's out for our heads again," Remy leaned back in his chair, hands behind his own head, coincidentally, "Don't know if we can defeat them after getting our butts handed to us by their best guy, but, eh, can't win them all."

"Thanks for the inspiring speech," Scott said, turning to Xavier, "What do you want us to do, Professor? Enhance the security measures? Go after the Winter Soldier?"

"Nothing that extreme, Scott," Xavier said, "We cannot plan for every contingency. We'll keep training and I'll contact Shield. Until things escalate, I'd rather not put unneeded stress on any of you. Everyone makes good points, but I'd rather we plan for the possible and be aware then worry about the hypothetical and be afraid."

"Sounds good," Molly winced, holding her bad side, "Are we done? Because, as fun as it was going against a super soldier was, the pain is still a solid seven for me."

"You're excused," Xavier waved the kids off.

"So you want I should carry you to bed or you actually up to walking?" Remy teased Molly once they were in the hallway.

"I'll let you know after you get me more pain killers, please," Molly said.

"Anything for you, Elue," Remy kissed the side of her head, leaving for the elevator.

"Hey, Molly?" Rogue caught up to her.

"Yeah?" Molly looked up, half-expecting double vision to start. Remy better hurry.

"Glad we could talk and everything. You want to maybe get coffee this week? Just us?" Rogue offered.

"Coffee sounds great. But what I'd really like right now is a hand to bed. I can't physically stand anymore.  
If we run into the Winter Soldier again, solid piece of advice-don't let him punch you," Molly said.

Rogue put an arm around Molly's waist, holding her up. "Right. So...have any French kissing tips?"

"You know I'm really not in the mood for teasi-wait. Are you saying you and Piotr...?" Molly wondered.

Rogue just held a finger to her lips with a smile and winked.

* * *

AN: I've been watching an unhealthy, ridiculous amount of Avengers Assemble in the past months, plus watching the Iron Man trilogy back to back after re-watching Endgame. (Thank you, Disney Plus!) The story was too short after they left the cave, so I added on this...unexpected...subplot. A couple of the Avengers have a bit of a future cameo in the next story, so it all makes a bit of sense. Long story short, I wanted to use them again sparingly, but not overshadow our lovely X-Men, so this was a cool way to bring them back into the story a tiny bit. I know it might not make a lot of sense, but I'd rather have this then the story feeling unfinished.


End file.
